Though the Janatha aragalaya (people’s struggle) against the Rajapaksas was spontaneous, the role of the Left organisations in galvanising this into a movement that ousted the Rajapaksa family is an important landmark in Left politics.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti S. Pattanaik’s article “India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy: the primacy of geoeconomics” has been published online in the Roundtable Journal 111(3), on 15 July 2022.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti S. Pattanaik’s article, ‘Is It Sri Lanka’s ‘Arab Spring’ Moment?’ has been published in Bangladesh daily ‘The Daily Star’ on 12 July 2022.
South Asia has seen many instances of popular uprising against authoritarian and unpopular regimes; however, the Sri Lankan situation remains unparalleled in recent history as it was the economic crisis that underpinned what many describe as the Bastille moment, or its "Arab Spring," that jostled a political awakening, says Dr Pattanaik.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti S. Pattanaik’s opinion piece ‘आज दुनिया के लिए सबक है श्रीलंका’ has been published in Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ on 10 July 2022.
Dr Pattanaik analyses the Sri Lanka crisis in the article.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti S Pattanaik’s article ‘Geopolitics of Bangladesh's liberation’ is published in the Journal of International Relations (Dhaka University), Special Issue on Bangladesh and the World, Achievements and Future, Vol 15, No 1&2, 2022.
The article explores Bangladesh’s journey especially in the context of the geopolitics of the 1971 Liberation War and its progress as a nation-state
India’s role in the liberation war is often seen through the geopolitical prism. Its response to developments in East Pakistan was complex and evolved over a period of time. Before taking recourse to military action, India exhausted its diplomatic initiatives to draw the attention of the international community to the refugee crisis which arose due to the Pakistan Army-perpetuated genocide – a term first used by India in the Parliament Resolution of 31 March.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti Pattanaik’s Article ‘श्रीलंका में आम लोगों के साथ खड़ा भारत’ has been published in Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ on 12 May 2022.
The birth of Bangladesh with the surrender and humiliation of the Pakistan military to the joint India-Bangladesh forces on 16 December 1971 is one of the most extraordinary political events in the Indian subcontinent.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Smruti S. Pattanaik’s article ‘Will there be ‘tabdeeli’ or a return to purana Pakistan?’ has been published in Financial Express on 11 April 2022.
Naya Pakistan is a history and it is to be seen whether Pakistan moves towards ‘purana Pakistan’ characterized by political rivalry that would make it easy for the Army to determine the course of politics or there would be course correction, says Dr Pattanaik.
